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film noir

We’re not seeing as much film noir from the “classic” era (roughly 1941-1958) being released on Blu-ray and DVD these days, at least not as much as I’d like, but rest assured there are more classic noir titles in the pipeline. Still, you’ll find plenty of good stuff this month including several neo-noir and “noir-stained” titles (although some of those connections might be a bit tenuous). You’ll also notice a few previously announced releases that were delayed for various reasons. As always, the following discs are in the Blu-ray format for U.S./Canada Region A players unless otherwise indicated.

If you’ve ever watched one of Eddie Muller’s introductions on TCM’s Noir Alley (every Sunday at 10am EST, by the way) or FilmStruck, listened to one of his DVD commentaries, or heard him introduce a film in person, you know that Muller’s love of film noir is personal, passionate, and boundless. Now imagine a book filled with men and women just like Muller who share his passion for film noir. That’s what you get when you pick up any Noir City annual.

So here’s an entire book about a method of photographing movies that’s been largely unused and ignored for at least 50 years. No one shoots movies in black-and-white anymore and if you say, “Hey, wait a minute! Nebraska and The Artist were filmed in black-and-white,” you’re wrong. (They were filmed in color and desaturated to black-and-white. Read the book to find out more.) Even if you wanted to shoot a film in black-and-white, the film stock is scarce and costly. Color has ruled at the movies for decades. So why should you care about a book on black-and-white cinema?

Underworld, U.S.A. (1961)
Written, produced and directed by Samuel Fuller
Based on articles in The Saturday Evening Post 1956 by Joseph F. Dinneen
Cinematography by Hal Mohr
Filmstruck (1:39)

“We’ve got a right to climb out of the sewer and live like other people.”

The filmography of Samuel Fuller isn’t exactly a blind spot for me, but rather a blurry one. I have seen only five of Fuller’s films and although I’ve found them all interesting, I’m not quite sure what it is about his work that makes them so different and compelling. Maybe I’ll discover that as I’m exploring Underworld, U.S.A.